Hair dryer

ABSTRACT

An environment-friendly and functional hair dryer which is capable of smoothly discharging beneficial components, such as far-infrared radiation and negative ions, removing or filtering harmful components, and supplying essence oil to hair simultaneously with drying the hair. The hair dryer includes: a body formed with a drawing-in part and an ejection part; a blower installed within the body to eject air drawn in through the drawing-in part to the ejection part; a heater installed within the body to heat air ejected by the blower; and a negative ion and far-infrared generation member formed in a filter shape with a plurality of through-holes, and installed in the drawing-in part.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a hair dryer, and more particularly to an environment-friendly and functional hair dryer which is capable of smoothly discharging beneficial components, such as far-infrared radiation and negative ions, removing or filtering harmful components, and supplying essence oil to hair simultaneously with drying the hair.

2. Description of the Prior Art

In general, a hair dryer is a household electric appliance that draws in air from the outside by a blower fan rotating with a motor, and then directly discharges the air as cool wind, or heats the drawn in air through a heater and then discharges the air as warm wind. Such a hair dryer is mainly used when drying wet hair or trimming hair.

If hair is dried for a long time using such a hair dryer in the state in which the heater is operated, there is a problem in that the hair exposed to the heat for a long time may be damaged. In addition, there is a problem in that plastic parts around the heater may be heated by the heater to be deteriorated thereby emitting chemical components harmful to the human body.

In order to solve these problems, recently increased are instances of constituting such a heater with a material that emits beneficial components, such as far-infrared radiation and negative ions, for example a ceramic material.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating a conventional negative ion and far-infrared radiation producing hair dryer. The conventional negative ion and far-infrared radiation hair dryer includes: a body 10 formed with an air inlet 11 and an air outlet 12; blower means 20 formed by a blower fan for rotating air inflowing through the air inlet 11 and discharging the air to the air outlet 12, and a motor for operating the blower fan; ceramic heaters 30 a provided within the body 10 and coated with a pyrogen and an electrode material; and a grip 13 provided with a control switch 14 and formed to be grasped by a user.

Here, the ceramic heaters 30 a are provided in front of the blower means 20 and fixed by a fixing module 70 and an insulation module case 80. Electric current application means is connected to the ceramic heaters 30 a so that the ceramic heaters 30 a produce heat with electric energy to heat surrounding air. However, such ceramic heaters 30 a have a disadvantage in that since the ceramic heaters 30 a are coated with the pyrogen and the electrode material, far-infrared radiation and negative ions cannot be smoothly discharged due to the coated materials.

Like this, the conventional negative ion and far-infrared radiation producing hair dryer is less effective in terms of practically discharging negative ions and far-infrared radiation since the heaters thereof is formed from a ceramic that discharges negative ions and far-infrared radiation, and is coated with a pyrogen and an electrode material.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, the present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems occurring in the prior art, and an object of the present invention is to provide a hair dryer in which a negative ion and far-infrared radiation generating member is provided separately from a heater so that a negative ion and far-infrared radiation discharge effect can be maximized, and harmful components contained in ejected wind can be removed or filtered.

Also, another object of the present invention is to provide a hair dryer capable of supplying nutritive components to hair simultaneously with drying the hair.

In order to accomplish this object, there is provided a hair dryer including: a body formed with a drawing-in part and an ejection part; blower means installed within the body to eject air drawn in through the drawing-in part to the ejection part; heater means installed within the body to heat air ejected by the blower means; and a negative ion and far-infrared generation member formed in a filter shape with a plurality of through-holes, and installed in the drawing-in part.

Preferably, the negative ion and far-infrared radiation producing member may be a filter fabricated by sintering red clay and ceramic powders, and each of the through-holes may have a hexagonal cross-section to form a honeycomb shape.

More preferably, the negative ion and far-infrared radiation producing member may be fixed in the inside of the body by interference fit.

Meanwhile, the negative ion and far-infrared radiation producing member may be impregnated with essence oil.

Preferably, the essence oil may be impregnated in the negative ion and far-infrared radiation producing member under a vacuum pressure within a vacuum chamber.

More preferably, the negative ion and far-infrared radiation producing member may be detachably fixed within the body.

The hair dryer may further include a fixing shaft installed within the body to extend along the longitudinal direction of the body. The fixing shaft may include four vanes extending along the longitudinal direction of the body and forming a crisscross cross-section, in which a plurality of fixing notches are provided along the longitudinal edge of each of the four vanes, which are spaced apart from each other, and the heater means is fitted in the fixing notches to be wound on the fixing shaft.

In accordance with the present invention, it is possible to smoothly discharge beneficial components, such as far-infrared radiation and negative ions, and to remove or filter harmful components since a negative ion and far-infrared radiation producing member is provided separately from heater means.

In addition, in accordance with the present invention, a hair drying rate can be improved since air blowing temperature and strength are increased by a negative ion and far-infrared generation member with a honeycomb structure.

Furthermore, in accordance with the present invention, it is possible to supply essence oil to hair simultaneously with drying the hair.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be more apparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a partially sectioned perspective view illustrating a conventional negative ion and far-infrared radiation producing hair dryer;

FIG. 2 is a partially sectioned side elevational view illustrating a construction of a hair dryer in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view illustrating the internal construction of the exemplary embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 4 is an enlarged perspective view illustrating a negative ion and far-infrared radiation producing member provided in the hair dryer in accordance with the exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. For reference, since terms referring to components of the present invention in describing the present invention below are named in consideration of the functions of the components, respectively, the terms shall not be interpreted in a sense of limiting the technical components of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a partially sectioned side elevational view illustrating a construction of a hair dryer in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 3 is a perspective view illustrating the internal construction of the exemplary embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 4 is an enlarged perspective view illustrating a negative ion and far-infrared radiation producing member provided in the hair dryer in accordance with the exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

As illustrated in FIGS. 2 to 4, the inventive hair dryer includes a body 100, blower means 110, heater means 120, and a negative ion and far-infrared radiation producing member 130.

The body 100 may be formed in a pistol shape in which a drawing-in part 101 is formed at the rear side thereof, an ejection part 102 is formed at the front side thereof, and a grip 103 extends downward. The grip 103 is provided with a power source, and a switch 104 configured to control wind strength and the operation of the heater means 120 which will be described later. An ejection nozzle 140 is detachably attached to the rear side where the ejection part 102 is formed to increase the ejected wind strength.

Although the body 100 is formed in a pistol shape, it may be formed in a cylinder shape in which the downwardly extending grip is omitted. In such a case, operating switches may be provided on a lateral side of the body.

The blower means 110 is installed within the body 100 adjacent to the drawing-in part 101, and operated to inhale air into the body 100 and to eject the air to the outside of the body 100 through the ejection part 102. The blower means 110 is constituted with a driving motor 111 and a blower fan 112 rotated by the driving motor 111.

The heater means 120 is installed between the blower means 110 and the ejection part 102 within the body 100, and is operated to heat the air drawn in through the drawing-in part 101, so that heated air can be ejected through the ejection part 102.

Specifically, the heater means 120 may be a coil heater wound on a fixing shaft 150 installed within the body 100. Here, the fixing shaft 150 may include, for example, four vanes 151 that extend along the longitudinal direction of the body 100 and form a crisscross cross-section. Along the longitudinal edge of each of the four vanes 151, a plurality of fixing notches 151 a are provided which are spaced apart from each other. In addition, the coil heater is fitted in the fixing notches 151 a provided in the vanes 151 to be wound on the fixing shaft 150.

Meanwhile, at the rear end of the fixing shaft 150, the driving motor 111 is fixed to drive the blower fan 112.

The negative ion and far-infrared radiation producing member 130 is formed in a filter shape provided with a plurality of through-holes 131, and installed within the body 100 adjacent to the drawing-in part 101. In addition, the negative ion and far-infrared generation member 130 is a filter fabricated by sintering red clay and ceramic powders, in which each of the through-holes 131 has a hexagonal cross-section to form a honeycomb-shaped filter.

Here, the red clay, which forms the negative ion and far-infrared radiation member 130, is known that its particles are fine, it contains a great quantity of oxygen, and it is excellent in purification ability. In addition, through recent researches, it has been found that the red clay is highly effective in emitting far-infrared radiation. Furthermore, it has been also proved that the red clay functions to produce negative ions, thereby removing chemical materials, such as ozone, and an unpleasant smell. Moreover, the ceramic may be formed from a mixture of powders of elvan, sericite, and zeolite that generate far-infrared radiation and negative ions.

Accordingly, the negative ion and far-infrared radiation producing member 130 may provide a user with an environmental friendly hair drying effect by purifying or removing harmful components in ejected air.

In addition, in accordance with the present invention, the negative ion and far-infrared radiation producing member 130 is provided as a member separately from the heater means 120 rather than being formed as a heating member, such as a ceramic heater. Accordingly, it is possible to solve the problem of the prior art in which the far-infrared radiation and negative ion generating effect is less efficient due to the pyrogen coating.

Furthermore, in accordance with the present invention, the negative ion and far-infrared radiation producing member 130 is installed adjacent to the drawing-in part 101, so that the air heated through the heater means 120 is adapted to finally pass the negative ion and far-infrared radiation producing member 130. This allows a harmful substance or dust produced from plastic parts within the body 100 by being heated by the heater means 120 to be finally removed or filtered.

In addition, the negative ion and far-infrared radiation producing member 130 is excellent in endurance since it is formed as a honeycomb-shaped filter as described above. In addition, due to the characteristics of the red clay and ceramic materials forming the negative ion and far-infrared radiation producing member 130, the air heated through the blower means 110 does not suffer from decrease of temperature while it is passing the negative ion and far-infrared radiation producing member 130. Furthermore, since the strength of wind ejected through the through-holes 131 is also increased, it is possible to further increase a hair drying rate.

Meanwhile, the negative ion and far-infrared radiation producing member 130 is fixed to the inside of the body 100 by interference fit. That is, at the time of assembling the body 100, the negative ion and far-infrared radiation producing member 130 may be tightly contacted with the inner surface of the body 100 in the state in which the negative ion and far-infrared radiation producing member 130 is positioned within the drawing-in part 101.

Preferably, the negative ion and far-infrared radiation producing member 130 may be impregnated with an essence oil. The essence oil impregnated in the negative ion and far-infrared radiation producing member 130 may be supplied to a user's hair by being spilled out to the outside little by little by ejected hot wind. Here, the essence oil may be oil extracted from lavender, grapefruit, nenoli, rose, rosemary, eucalyptus, ylang-ylang, jasmine, tea tree, cypress, peppermint, patchouli, chamomile, or the like. Accordingly, the essence oil may be entrained by the wind ejected through the ejection part 102 to supply nutrition to the user's hair, so that the hair can be healthily managed simultaneously with drying the hair. In addition, the negative ion and far-infrared radiation producing member 130 impregnated with the essence oil allows the essence oil to be entrained by the ejected oil, so that the user's trouble to directly apply the essence oil to the hair can be reduced.

The negative ion and far-infrared radiation producing member 130 impregnated with essence oil may be fabricated by sintering red clay and ceramic powders, and then leaving the sintered member to be impregnated with the essence oil under a vacuum pressure within a vacuum chamber.

Although not illustrated in the drawings, the impregnation of essence oil is performed within a vacuum chamber in which the vacuum chamber is formed with an inlet for introducing an impregnant (essence oil), and an outlet for discharging the impregnant at the bottom and top sides thereof, respectively. A porous negative ion and far-infrared radiation producing member (a red clay and ceramic filter) is charged into the vacuum chamber, and then a vacuum pressure is applied to the inside of the vacuum chamber using vacuum inducing means, such as a vacuum pump. As such, the impregnant is introduced into the vacuum chamber. Then, all the air is discharged from the vacuum chamber to turn the inside of the vacuum chamber into a vacuum state, and the impregnant is impregnated into the porous member of the red clay and ceramic filter under the vacuum pressure. Consequently, the essence oil can be impregnated in the inside of the red clay and ceramic filter.

Preferably, the negative ion and far-infrared radiation producing member 130 may be detachably fixed within the body 100. For example, the negative ion and far-infrared radiation producing member 130 is formed in a shape of a cartridge to be inserted into the drawing-in part 101 of the body 100 to be replaced as desired.

As described above, the inventive hair dryer is provided with a negative ion and far-infrared radiation producing member 130 separately from heater means 120, thereby smoothly discharging beneficial components, such as far-infrared radiation and negative ions, removing or filtering harmful components, and supplying essence oil to hair simultaneously with drying the hair.

Although the technical ideas of the present invention have been described for illustrative purposes through several exemplary embodiments, those skilled in the art will appreciate that various modifications, additions and substitutions are possible, without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention as disclosed in the accompanying claims. Therefore, any technical ideas equivalent to the present invention shall be interpreted to be included in the scope of the present invention. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A hair dryer comprising: a body formed with a drawing-in part and an ejection part; blower means installed within the body to eject air drawn in through the drawing-in part to the ejection part; heater means installed within the body to heat air ejected by the blower means; and a negative ion and far-infrared generation member formed in a filter shape with a plurality of through-holes, and installed in the drawing-in part.
 2. The hair dryer as claimed in claim 1, wherein the negative ion and far-infrared radiation producing member is a filter fabricated by sintering red clay and ceramic powders, and each of the through-holes has a hexagonal cross-section to form a honeycomb shape.
 3. The hair dryer as claimed in claim 1, wherein the negative ion and far-infrared radiation producing member is fixed in the inside of the body by interference fit.
 4. The hair dryer as claimed in claim 1, wherein the negative ion and far-infrared radiation producing member is impregnated with essence oil.
 5. The hair dryer as claimed in claim 4, wherein the essence oil is impregnated in the negative ion and far-infrared radiation producing member under a vacuum pressure within a vacuum chamber.
 6. The hair dryer as claimed in claim 5, wherein the negative ion and far-infrared radiation producing member is detachably fixed within the body.
 7. The hair dryer as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a fixing shaft installed within the body to extend along the longitudinal direction of the body, wherein the fixing shaft comprises four vanes extending along the longitudinal direction of the body and forming a crisscross cross-section, a plurality of fixing notches are provided along the longitudinal edge of each of the four vanes, which are spaced apart from each other, and the heater means is fitted in the fixing notches to be wound on the fixing shaft. 